Nail gate for nailing machines



Nov. 22, 1932. H, TWO EY 1,888,520.

NAIL GATE FOR NAILING MACHINES Filed Dec. 28. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Inventor Altamey:

NOV. 22, 1932. TWQMLEY NAIL GATE FOR NAILING MACHINES 4 Sheet-Sheet 2Filed Dec. '28. 1931 Nov. 22, 1932. H. E TWOMLE'Y I NAIL GATE FORNAILING MACHINES Filed Dec. 28, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVE/ITUR ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 22, 1932. H. E. TWON ILEY j 8 I NAIL GATE FOR NAILING MACHINESFiled Dec. 28, 1931 4 SheeCs-Sheet 4 INVEN T0 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 22, 1932 UNITED. STAT S PATENT OFFICE HERBERT E. TWOHLEY,0F RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, AS SIGNOB i130 CLARA. B. PARKER,

01 RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, AS EXEOUTBIX OF GEORGE D. PARKER, DECEASEDNAIL earn non NAILING mcimrns Application filed December 2a, 1931.Serial in. 583,585.

My invention relates to nail feeding apparatus for automatic nailingmachinery, and has particular reference to a nail gate which controlsthe feeding of nails through such nail feeding apparatus. v

In box making machines or nailing devices of the character employed inpacking industries, such as that illustrated in the patent to George D.Parker, No. 1,576,213, granted March 9, 1926, a nail feeding apparatusis employed which automatically aligns the nails and feeds them throughstrippers to a nail pick deviceready for feeding to the nail drivingapparatus of the machine. However, the nail feeding devices in suchmachines are designed to operate continuously, whereas the nails aredrawn from the feeding device only as they are required for actual useand the result is that a congestion frequently occurs in the nailfeeding apparatus which causes the nails to jam therein and prevents thecorrect operation of the entire machine.

It is an. object of my invention to provide a nail feeding apparatus ofthe character described with a device for automatically preventing thefeeding of more nails through 4 the feeding device than are'actuallyrequired for use.

Another object of the invention is to provide an attachment for nailfeeding devices which will automatically prevent the feeding of nails inexcess of the demand of the machine for nails. Y

Another object of the invention is to provide a nail gate for a nailfeeding apparatus which will automatically close the nail feedingapparatus against the further feeding of nails until the supply of nailspreviously fed through has been reduced to a predetsrmined amount.

Another object of the invention is to'provide a nail gate as set forthin the preceding paragraph in which the nail gatefis automaticallyoperated by the movements of the nail feeding apparatus.

Uther objects of my invention will be apparent from a study of thefollowing specifications, read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a nail anglesto the direction of the struts 3an feeding apparatus of the characteremployed in nailing machines, illustrating my inven-' tion attachedthereto.

' Figure 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the nail feeding deviceshown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken along line III-III of Figure2. g Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view, similar to Figure 3,illustrating the gate in closed position with thenail pan in retractedposition.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4,'il-

lustrating the gate in position to prevent the feeding of nails throughthe gate.

Figure 6 is a plan view, similar to Figure I lustrating the nail gate inits open position.

Figure 9 is a sectional view, similar to Figure 8, illustrating the nailgate in closed position with the nail pan retracted, and

Figure 10 is a sectional view, similar to Figure 8, showing the nailgate in closed position elevated to feed further nails.

Referring to the drawings, I have illusmaybe attached to a nailingmachine, as by securing a frame member 1 in any suitable position uponthe nail driving machine. The frame member 1 is provided withnail chutes2 which are adapted to be connected by suitable tubes to feed nails fromthe feeding device to the nail chucks 2' and drivers 3' of' the machine.

The frame member 1 is illustrated as comprising a pair of struts 3 and 4extending in spaced parallel relation and secured to trated in Figure 1a nail feeding device which I each other as by means of cross bars-5 and6. j The outer ends of the struts 3 and 4 are provided with squareopenings 7 extending laterally therethrough to reciprocably mount asquare nail pick-bar v8 so that the nail.

pick-bar 8 may be reciprocated at --ri ht 4. The upper ends 9 and 10 ofthe struts and 1 4 are pivotall secured, respectivelyf oscillatedrelative to the struts '3 and 4 through a considerable angle.

The nail an is illustrated as com rising a substantia y rectan ular box,the ottorn 17 of which is provide with a longitudinally extending slot18 at about its center, the slot 18 communicating with an opening 19 inthe front wall 20 of the pan near the base, the" opening 19- beinsuificient to permit nail heads to pass t erethrou h provided the planeof the nail head is su stantially parallelwith the bottom" of the nailpan 17.

' As Will be understood by those skilled in the art, oscillation of thenail pan, as by means of a connecting rod 21, will agitate the nailscontained in the pan so that upon each oscillation several of the nailswill fall through the slot 18, being held from falling out o the pan bythe engagement of the nail heads with'the sides of the slot, itbeing'understood that the slot 18 is slightly larger than the diameterof the nail but less than the diameter of the nail head. Thus when thenail pan is elevated to the position shown in Figure 1, any nails whichare in the slot 18 will tend to slide forwardlyand downwardly along theslot 18 to pass through 'the opening 19.

The bottom 17 of the nail pan is illustrated as having an extension 22formed thereon to extend the slot 18 beyond the front wall 20 of thenail pan to a point substantially aligned with the axis of the pivotpins 15 and 16. Immediately adjacent the outer end of the extension 22 anail stripper or holder 23 is secured, the nail stripper comprising apair of bars 24and 25 mounted upon the cross bars 5 and 6 in spacedparallel re'latio'n to each other by an amount sub stantially equal tothe width of the slot 18 in the nail pan so that nails which are fedfromthe'pan through the slot 18 and through the opening 19 will pass intothe nail passage or the space 26 between the stripper bars 24 and 25.The stripper bars 24 and 25 are illustrated as normally extendeddownwardly at a considerable angle so that nails which pass into the'stripper will fallby gravity toward the nail pick-bar.

By referring particularly to Figure 2, it

will be observed that the nails which pass through the stripper willcome to rest against the 'nail pick-bar 8. That'is, a line of nails,such as is indicated at 27 in Figure 3, will be spaced. along thestripper from the nail ick-bar8 ready to be taken ed by the pickar. Byreferring particularly to Figure '2, it

will be obserted that the nail pick-bar s is formed with a laterallyextending lug or nail pick 28 which moves with the nail pick-bar so thatthe point 29 thereof will enter between the first and second nails inthe line ad acentthe' nail pick-bar, moving the firstv nail outwardly ofthe stripper 23 while holding the remainder of the nails in thestripper. Also, immediately adjacent the lug 28,

is a slot or recess 30 in the side of the nail pick-bar 8, which recessis sufiicientl large to permit the head of the nail picke ofi to dropthrough into'the chute 2 and thence to pass to the nailing device.

The nail pick bar 8 is illustrated as being normally biased to theposition shown in Figure 2by means of' a relatively heayyspring 31secured at 32 to the strut 4, while the opposite end of the" nail pickis provided with an enlarged head 33 against which a cam 34 may operateto reciprocate'the nail pick as the nailing machine operates.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that-the cam 34 willbe rotated by some moving part of the nail driving apparatus so thatuponeach operation of the nail driving apparatus the cam will rotate to feeda new nail into the chute 2.

As hereinbefore described, the elevation of the nail pan 11 will causenails to slide downwardly into the stripper. However,

when the stripper becomes full further nails cannot slide downwardly andhence the nails tend to jam the'strip er. This is'especially" true whena nail is ositioned at the axis 35 or juncture between the extension22of the nail pan and the upper end of the stripper bars. A nail at thispoint will be caught edge 36 will tend to ueeze the nail toward thestripper thus binding all of the nails in the stripper and preventingthe effective op 7 1. I

eration of the nail pick 28.

In order to prevent such jamming, 1' have illustrated a nail gate 37which is formed from a flat section of metal having a width greater thanthe width of the slot 26 in the stri per. The gate 37 is illustrated aspivote upon a pivot pin 38 which engages a slot 39 in the nail gate, thepin being mounted upon a lug 40 formed upon, or attached to one of thestripper bars 25. The upper end of thenail ate is illustrated as beingformed with. a kni e-l'ike edge 41 to rest against the extension 22 ofthenail pan 11 so as to ohstruct the slot 18 and prevent nails frompassing from the nail pan. Thenail gate is illustrated as having a tailpiece 42 extend ing rearwardly therefrom, a portion 43 of which extendsdownwardly toward the stripper and is of such width as to readily passthrough the'slot 26 between the stripper bars.

It will be observed that "the nail gate37 the outer end 36 of theextension 22 when the pan 11 is in its lowermost position and hence whenthe pan is again elevated the sage of nails, I have provided anextending arm 44 frictionally secured to the pivot pin 16 and extendingforwardly therefrom to the outer end of which is secured to pin ex.-tending across and above the tail piece 42 of the nail gate 37 so thatas the pan 11 is elevated the pin 45 will be moved downwardly toward thetail piece 42 and will engage and depress the tail piece to thereby rockthe nail gate 37 around its pivot 38, lifting the knife edge 41 of thenail gate from the extension 22 to a position such as is shown in Figure1, permitting nails to pass the nail gate. The depression of the tailpiece 42 will cause the extending end 43 thereof to pass between thestripper bars so that no obstruction to the lifting of the nail gateoccurs. Upon the next descent of the nail pan 11 the nail gate followsthe downward movement into engagement with the extension 22, while thetail piece is lifted out of the slot 26 permitting nails that had passedfrom the. nail pan-to continue down the slide formed 'by the stripper.However, when nails have filled the stri per toa point at which the nailhea s are immediately below the tail piece 42, elevation of the nail panwill not cause the depression of the tail piece 42, since the tail pieceis obstructed by the nail heads and hence the nail gate 37 will not belifted and'further passage of nails to the axis 35 will not bepermitted. Thus there is no opportunity for nails to become jammed inthe stripper. V

vBy reason of the frictional engagement of the arm 44 with the pivot pin16, movement of the nail pan without movement of the nail.

gate is permitted. However, as soon as the nail pick-bar 8 has pickedoff a sufficient number of nails to remove the nails from the tail piece43, the tail niece may be again de pressed and more nails may be fedinto the stripper.

A modified form of my invention is illustrated in Figures 6 to 10, inwhich a plurality of strippers 23a are illustrated, each of which-isprovided with a nail gate 37a each of which is pivoted at 50 upon a lug51 attached to one of the-bars of the stripper with which it isassociated. In this instance, the nail gate 37a is illustrated ascomprising a relatively thin strip of metal, the upper end of which isswedged out to form a broad knife edge to engage the extensions 22a ofthe nail pan 11a to perform the same function as was described with thenail gate shown in Figures 1 to 5.

The front end 20a of the nail pan 11a is illustrated as being providedwith a plurality '4 of outstanding lugs 52 to which is pivotall secureda weighted lever 53 which extend s over and rests upon the nail gate37a. The lugs 52 are illustrated as being spaced considerably above theaxis 350 so that a considerable linear movement 'is given the weightedlever 53 whenever the nail pan 11a is oscillated.

By referring particularly to Figures 8, 9 and 10, it will be observedthat when the nail pan 11a is in its lower position the point of contactbetween the lever 53 and the nail gate 37a is on the right-hand side ofthe pivot, thereby pressing the nail gate downwardly toward theextension 22a, thereby assisting the weight of the nail gate in rotatingthe gate about its pivot 50.

It will be observed that the rear end of the nail gate 37a is providedwith a downwardiy extending portion 430. normally adapted to pass intothe slot 26a of the nail stripper except when this slot is obstructed bynails fillin thestripper up to a point immediately below the extendingend 43a.

Whenever the nail pan 11a is elevated the lever 53 will be moved to'theposition shown in Figures 8 and 10, "in which the weight is applied tothe nail gate 37a on the other side of the pivot to thereby lift thenail gate from engagement with the extension 22a. However, when nailsare filling the stripper to a point at which the end piece 43a can nolonger descend into the slot, the nail gate is prevented from lifting sothat the gate endis not lifted fromthe extension 22 and nails arenotpermitted to pass.

Theform of the invention shown in Figures 6 to 10 is particularlyadapted for a battery of nail strippers which must be mounted closetogether, since the construction and operation of the nail gate 37a issuch that only a small amount of lateral space 1s needed therefor.

It will, therefore, be observed that I have provided a nail gateconstruction which permits nails to be fed from the nail pan into thestripper until the strip er is substantially full and which therea roperates to effectively prevent further nails passing from the pan andthus obviates any possibility of jamming the nail stripper and nail pWhile I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited toany of the details of construction described herein, except as definedin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a nail feeding device having an agitated nail container and a slotthrough which nails may pass from the container, a nail holder forreceiving nails from said slot, a nail gate for obstructing said slot toprevent sive to the 7 in said holder, an

" passage of nails therethrough, means opprevent nails passingtherethrough, a tail iece on said nail ate ali ed with the slot P f 8'and to project said tail piece through the stripper slot, the engagementof said tail iece with nails in said stripper slot prevent,- ngefl'ective movement of said nail gate.

3. In a nail feeding device having a nail container and a slot throughwhich nails may pass, a nail stripper constituting a nail holder 1having a passage therein for receiving nails from said slot, meanspivotally mounting said nail container relative to said stripper, a

nail gate for obstructing said slot, means operable by pivotal movementof said nail container for, moving said nail gate out of obstructingposition, and a tail piece on said nail gate engaging nails in saidstripper when said stripper contains more than a predetermined number ofnails for preventing effective movement of said nail gate. k

4. In a nail feeding device having an a itated nail container and a-slotthrough Willfilk nails may pass from the container, a nail holderforreceiving nails from. said slot, a nail gate engaging said slot forobstructing passage of nails therethrough, normally biased by gravity toobstructing position, and means operably res onsive to movement of saidnail container or moving said nail gate to'nonobstructing position, and-means operably responsive to the presence of a redetermined number ofnails in said ho der for-preventing effective movement of said nail ate.

5. n a nail feeding device having a nail pan and a slot therein throughwhich nails may pass, a nail stripper constituting a nail holder havinnails from said slot, means pivotally mounting said nail pan relative tosaid stripper, a nail gate for obstructing said slot, means frictionallyconnected to said nail pan for engaging said nail gate and moving saidgate to nonobstructing position, and a tail piece a on said nail gateprojectable through the nail passage in said stripper when said nailgate is moved and obstructed'bv the presence of more than apredetermined number of nails nail gate.

in said stripper to prevent movement of said means \ope'rably responsiveto movement'of said nail pan for move ing said nail gate fromobstructing position a nail passage for receiving 1-,saaeao,

6. In a nail feedingdevice anail pan hav- I ing a slot therein throughwhich nails may pass, a nail stripper constituting a holder having apassage for receiving nails from sald slot, means pivotally mountingsaid nail pan relative to said stripper, a nai gate comprising a pivotedlever having its end on one side of the pivot engaging sald nail panslot. and having its opposite end projectable through the nail passagein said stripper, means bias ing said nail gate to obstructing position,and

means operable by movement of said nail pan for mpving said nail gateagainst the force of said biasing means, said last named means beingyieldabl'e whereby obstruction of the pgmageby more than a'predetermined'numr of nails prevents movement of said nail ate. g 7. Ina nail feeding device, a nail pan having "a slot therein through whichnails may pass, a nail stripper constituting a holder having a passagefor receiving nails from said slot, means pivotally mounting said nailpan relative to said stripper, a nail gate comprisin a pivoted leverhaving its end on one side 0 the pivot engaging sald nail pan slot andhaving its opposite end 'projectable through the nail passage in saidstripper,

means movable with said nail pan for rocking said leverbetween'obstructing position and a non-obstructing position, said lastsnamed means being yieldablev whereby engagement of said projeotable endof said nail gate with nails in said stlfipperwhen-more than apredeterminednumber of nailsare in prevents effective movement of saidstripper said nail gate.

8. In a nail feeding device, a:nail pan hav ing a slot therein throughwhich nails may pass, a nail stripper constituting a holder; having apassage for receiving mails from slot and having its opposite endprojectable through the nail passage in said stripper,

and a weight resting on said nail gate and having a linear movementrelative to. the pivot thereof responsive to movement of said nail panfor rocking said lever between obstructing position and anon-obstructing position. v I

Signed at Riverside, California, this 18 day of Dec., 1931.

, HERBERT 'E. TWOMLEY.

